" to lead belly ' s june 1937 trip to washington , dc , when he was invited by the folk ##lor ##ist alan lo ##max to record for the library of congress ' s folk music collection . on the first night lead belly and his wife martha spent in the city , they encountered racial ##ly disc ##rim ##inatory jim crow laws similar to those found in their native louisiana : most hotels refused to rent rooms to african americans and the few that would were either full or refused to serve him because he was with a white man ( lo ##max ) . lo ##max , in some versions of the story described as an unnamed " white friend " , offered to let
" to lead belly's june 1937 trip to washington, dc, when he was invited by the folklorist alan lomax to record for the library of congress's folk music collection. on the first night lead belly and his wife martha spent in the city, they encountered racially discriminatory jim crow laws similar to those found in their native louisiana : most hotels refused to rent rooms to african americans and the few that would were either full or refused to serve him because he was with a white man ( lomax ). lomax, in some versions of the story described as an unnamed " white friend ", offered to let